‘Pig butchering’ scam leaves Florida man heartbroken and asking for help

Through tears, a 67-year-old man who had retired in Jupiter described how he thought he had found love and opportunity with “Aileen,” who first wrote him a text message looking for “Judy.”Karl Geissler responded, and “Aileen” later disclosed that she was born in Singapore and lived in Los Angeles. They messaged back and forth for a long time, and she earned his trust. “She would talk about herself a little bit, and I talked about myself,” Geissler told WPBF.

“We kind of got a little relationship going.”Geissler is trying to recover from a cruel fraud that federal authorities now refer to as “pig butchering,” a type of gradual confidence and investment scam. Geissler said “Aileen” eventually disclosed that her wealthy aunt worked with a team of gold market analysts and had investment opportunities. Geissler started with $500 and was hooked on the returns.

He eventually sold a home he had inherited from his parents and his car. Now he lives in a hotel and rides a bicycle. “I’ve always been a hard worker,” Geissler said.

“I go out there earning money in the old-fashioned way. Just go out there and work and don’t complain.”The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s Office of Inspector General has issued alerts warning that scammers gradually lure victims into making “increasing monetary contributions, generally in the form of cryptocurrency, to a seemingly sound investment before the scammer disappears with the contributed monies.”Geissler filed a report with the Jupiter Police Department and shared his story to warn others and to ask the public for help. How this type of scam targets consumers:The perpetrators might contact you randomly by way of text messages, dating apps, social media platforms, and then later switch to VOIP chat applications.They will try to develop meaningful relationships with you, gain your trust, and offer you high-yield investment opportunities in virtual assets, such as cryptocurrency.They will tell you to open accounts on online investment websites and instruct you to deposit money via wire transfer to shell companies, or direct transfers on legitimate virtual asset service providers (VASPs) or cryptocurrency exchanges.They will pressure you to invest more money, or your relationship with them will end.If the scam works, you will most likely be duped and the fraud will end.When you attempt to withdraw money, websit…